Documents on Art & Cinema

Friday, December 09, 2016

In the last few days, have had a cold and spent the time trying to fill out my ballot for Indiewire's Best of 2016 poll (which was due by Thursday, December 8); actually finished my ballot by December 7. This was a diversion, as part of the rituals of "award season" that consume so much of the attention of those of us who write about film.

The national election has been a shock; a few days before the election, i was saying to a friend that, in my lifetime, each time there was the election of a Republican (each more repugnant than the last), i felt that fascism was coming to America. That was certainly my feeling with Ronald Reagan, and it was my feeling with George W. Bush. But Trump was such an obvious fascist. The fact is that, now that the dust has cleared, it's obvious Trump did not win the popular vote. There can be no denying that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. But Trump won the Electoral College, because he appealed to the racism of the middle of the country. And that brought fascism to the United States. I don't want to hear anything about the aggrieved white working class in the middle of America: they're not aggrieved, they're racists who wanted to feel superior to the West Coast and the Northeast, which were places which have become (by necessity) the places where the economies are in flux as information technologies have become dominant and everything (including the media) is now in development. And that anger became the motor for them to ignore everything except Trump's appeal to their white superiority.

So there are petitions and marches and any actions which can stem the tide of fascism in our country. But make no mistake: it is here, and every day brings new revelations as to the extent to which Trump despises the American democratic system, preferring to think that his election means he is a dictator who can impose anything at his will.

If i think about it too long, i'll just get more depressed.

So i take out my frustrations by thinking about something like the films of the year (which, by the way, happened to be a particularly strong year).

About Me

Daryl Chin is a multimedia artist, critic and curator. He was Associate Editor of PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art from 1989 to 2005. He co-founded the Asian-American International Film Festival, was on the Board of Directors of NewFest (The New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival) and Apparatus Productions. With Larry Qualls, he created over 30 theater/performance pieces from 1975 to 1985.